Building back links is an online marketing strategy that helps not only boost search engine traffic but also creates an incoming stream from other sites as well. An effective linking strategy will enable you to attract 'organic traffic' which is typically targeted and of equal importance also free.

Here are 5 of the most time tested and proven strategies you can use for building links to increase your website traffic.

Social Bookmark Sites

Bookmarking sites are a great way to increase the circulation of your content online. Many of these sites have members vote on the content and sites like Digg allow highly rated content to be displayed on their home page. This offers the potential for massive exposure virtually overnight. Content like this is usually linked to by many notable sites and this helps to boost search engine traffic.

Writing Guest Posts

Writing content for other sites is another great way to create additional exposure for your own site. Not only does this approach help boost your own profile but it also allows you to link back to your own site as well. This is particularly advantageous when writing for sites that have a strong ranking.

Social Networks

Social network marketing has become a popular online marketing strategy but these communities are also great for distributing your content. Without making even one sale you can still benefit by having influential people and organizations linking to your content.

Outbound Links

When posting on your blog take the opportunity to link out to other more established sites when appropriate. Other bloggers are always interested in who is linking to them and if they like what is on your blog they will link to it. Remember however you MUST have content WORTHY of linking to on your own site!

Article Submissions

Submitting articles to directories is a great way to increase your website traffic but it is also an effective linking strategy as well. Here again it is all about gaining a greater exposure online and article directories are a great avenue for you to take. Once your article is published you now have a link created between the directory, which is normally ranked well, and your own site. As your articles are picked up and used by others more links are developed and the 'magic' continues.

Developing back links is a highly effective way to increase the amount of search engine traffic you receive. This particular online marketing strategy helps to boost search engine rankings which in turn lead to an increase in your website traffic. With an effective linking strategy you can therefore attract more 'organic' traffic which by the way is also free. Having targeted traffic such as this coming to your site makes your marketing efforts much more effective resulting in greater profits. The 5 strategies we reviewed above are time tested and proven and offer little reason why they should not be a part of your overall marketing strategy.